Birthday Surprise
by Lady Taevyn
Summary: Chloe gets the last thing she'd ever expect for her birthday. This was written as a gift for the Chlack LJ group. Let me know what you all think.


Title: Birthday Surprise

Author: Lady Taevyn

Rating: T

Summary: Chloe receives a birthday gift she never expected. Post Season 6.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to other, more talented, people. I'll put them back when I'm good and ready to.

AN: A belated birthday fic for Rory. Better late then never. This might have more but I'm not promising anything. My muse has been in 'one-shot' mode for a while.

Chloe didn't mind working on her birthday; it gave her something to think about other then the fact that she was aging, and alone. Hell she would have worked through the delivery of her baby if it hadn't been so painful. Chloe smiled looking at the picture on her desk; Chase had taken it at the hospital so of course Chloe thought she looked awful but she had her baby girl in her arms, and she was the focus of the picture so that was all that mattered. Her phone rang then breaking her out of her thoughts.

"O'Brien." She said matter-of-factly.

"Chloe, I need you in Tech 1 when Doyle's team gets back. They recovered the hard drives but they're in bad shape. Whatever you can get off of them would help." The latest acting director of CTU said briskly barely letting Chloe respond before they hung up. Chloe laughed quietly; the title should be permanently changed to have 'acting' in front of it. The person put in the position was either killed or fired so soon after taking it Division was going to run out of candidates.

Chloe spent the better part of 3 hours working on the hard drives. They were in bad shape, she was lucky to get even the half dozen files she did. When she got back to her desk she looked at it wearily. Sitting in the middle was the picture of Daphne (which she hadn't moved from the back of the desk) and in front of that was a cupcake and a rose. Glancing around to try to catch someone looking too intently Chloe was surprised to find no one paying any attention. No one knew it was her birthday; at least no one here. Everyone who did know was either in a different state, or country or they were dead. She sniffed the confection as stealthily as possible; if she smelled almond she would throw it out. After deciding it was worth the risk she took the paper off the bottom and pulled it apart. This would have to do as lunch. She was beginning to hate the new acting director as her phone rang just as she took a bite.

"I need you to head out with McMurphy's team. They're going to need to get through a couple of computer personnel checks; you're the best we have. They leave in 10; so get your laptop and sign a gun out of the armory. Thanks." Chloe considered making her birthday a little better by offing the new acting director. It would almost be worth it. Wasn't it stated somewhere in their briefing that Chloe O'Brien didn't do field work.

No one (from CTU) died; although Chloe had expended all her ammo. So maybe this wasn't such a bad birthday after all. She thought to herself on the trip back to CTU. She was making a grocery list in her head and weighing the pro's and con's of leaving Daphne at the sitters while she did her shopping as the de-briefing went on around her. She was a good baby, and would probably sleep through most of the store. Chloe noticed the room emptying out; she quickly stood and stretched; adding formula and wipes to her mental list. She was glad today was Friday; that meant she would have two whole uninterrupted days with Daphne. Getting back to her desk Chloe noticed a heated t.v. dinner, another rose and a note. 'Since I know you didn't get lunch and you scarfed down the cupcake, sit and eat this. Happy Birthday.' The note had been written in such neat clear writing that she didn't recognize who the sender might be. It worried her a little that someone knew it was her birthday, but not much. Thankfully she was left alone for the rest of the afternoon and actually got some work done. Chloe made quick work of signing off of the network at 5:30; while she didn't mind working on her birthday she sure as hell wasn't doing any overtime. She thought about leaving a note for the person that sat at her terminal on third shift to not leave their CD's in her computer; she was getting a little sick of emo rock whining at her every time she started her system. She decided against it at the last minute, as it wouldn't do any good and left CTU behind for the weekend.

When she saw yet another rose on her wind shield she started to worry. Who in the hell was leaving her flowers. Now wasn't the time to worry about it, she just wanted to get her daughter and go home. An hour and a half later Chloe was one traffic report away from road rage. She knew the 105 was backed up for miles; she was sitting in the middle of it. She prayed her sitter didn't have plans.

"Hey Mary-Ellen, I'm sitting in the middle of the 105 parking lot. I'm so sorry about this. I'll be there as soon as I can to get Daphne." She said as soon as the other woman got on the line.

"Oh, well I'm completely confused then. A gentleman just picked her up about 20 minutes ago. I figured you knew he was coming to get her since he knew the passcode. Should I call the police?" Mary-Ellen responded worry tingeing her tone.

"What do you mean 'a gentleman'? It wasn't Chase, Bill or Tony. They are the only three men that would have even known anything about a passcode." Chloe had decided on this idea after Tony and Michelle's son was taken from his daycare by a group CTU had been investigating.

"No it wasn't any of them. I knew I should have called and made sure it was ok for him to take her; I'm so sorry Chloe. He said he worked with you though, so I just figured it was ok. God if anything happens to her." Mary-Ellen cut that line of thought off before it had a chance to fully form.

"It's ok Mary, you said he knew the passcode; and he worked with me. That limits who it could be. It'll be ok. I'll call you as soon as I get home; traffic seems to be moving now so it shouldn't be too long." Chloe said hanging up. She wasn't sure if the fluttering in the pit of her stomach was from fear or anticipation. The only person it could be was Jack; but he was still off 'finding himself' somewhere. As she pulled off the freeway she dialed Tony and Michelle's number. They were the only ones really in the area that might have an idea as to what was going on.

"Almeida." Tony answered his tone no nonsense as usual.

"Hey Tony I just got off the phone with my baby sitter and she said someone had been by to get Daphne about 20 minutes ago. You wouldn't know anything about this would you?"

"Oh hey Chloe. It was supposed to be a surprise. They should be at your house by now. Daphne's ok you have my word on that. Have a happy birthday." He responded with a note of laughter in his voice as he hung up.

"If anything happens to my baby girl I will personally cut your balls off with a dull knife Almeida." Chloe said shaking her head as she pulled into her neighborhood. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she turned into her driveway, and that worried her. There were no cars that she didn't recognize. What the hell was going on? She had her mace in one hand as she cautiously opened the front door not sure what to expect on the other side. What she didn't expect was to hear Daphne giggling as a masculine velvety voice sang along to the radio. She would recognize that voice anywhere. As she rounded the corner from the living room to the kitchen her suspicions were confirmed. Jack Bauer was currently dancing around the room spinning a laughing 10 month old high above his head.

"What the Hell do you think you are doing?" She asked indignantly. He brought Daphne back down and cradled her next to his chest; turning to face a very angry Chloe.

"Chloe, I… um… well." Jack didn't get very far in his explanation before Chloe pulled the child out of his grasp and backed him into a corner.

"What gives you the right to come back here after almost a year with no contact? I want you out of my house in the next 30 seconds or I will call the police. Where do you get off pretending that everything is ok?" She yelled walking out of the room to place Daphne in her play pen.

"Chloe stop please let me explain. I know I have no right to be here; I just had to make sure you were ok. The whole time I was gone I worried about you; but I had to deal with myself. Please don't throw me out. At least not until I say what I've come to say. You have every right to be furious with me; and I'll understand if you never want to see me again. I needed to go away and figure out who and what I was. With everything that's happened in the last two years I'd lost myself. I had become CTU's fall guy, and Heller's lapdog; I don't want to be either of those. I know I've hurt you, hell I was a complete bastard. I didn't even want to be around me; but I'm not that person any more Chloe. I'll leave now; but please think about what I said. Tony knows how to get in touch with me; if you want to." With that Jack left. Chloe sat down on the sofa heavily, not knowing what to do. She had just gotten her life under control; had just found a routine that she was happy with and now here comes Jack Bauer. She literally didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream. She sat there for what could have been an eternity trying to figure out what to do. Finally Daphne got her attention by throwing a toy at her.

"Daphne, how do I get myself into these messes?" She asked as she picked the child up out of the play pen. She laughed when she looked at her daughter's scowling face that was so much like her own. Thank god she didn't look like her father. The fewer reminders Chloe had of Morris the better. Daphne sat quietly in her highchair as Chloe got her dinner ready. It was only when the phone rang that Chloe remembered her promise to call Mary-Ellen back when she got home.

"Mary, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you right away. Everything's fine; I was just getting ready to feed Daphne. I'll see you Monday." She said reassuring the older lady that nothing had happened. All things considered Daphne was taking this rather well. She wasn't weird about strangers; but she was just beginning to recognize people she new from those she didn't. It had caught Chloe off guard to hear her laughing with Jack. She couldn't leave things the way they were. Jack had come here looking to apologize, she couldn't deny him that. She distractedly fed the baby weighing the pro's and con's of the situation; giving Daphne her bath Chloe made up her mind. She would give Jack a chance. It was the least he deserved. After she put Daphne to sleep she called Tony. She had been in love with Jack for a long time; she just wasn't ready to admit it to anyone. If Jack was screwing with her bad things would happen. Two hours after she had kicked him out he was back in her house. Chloe didn't believe in wishes coming true; but if they did her birthday wish was that he was there to stay.

"I know I messed up Chloe; and I know words aren't going to make it better. Let me make it up to you please? I don't know how I'm going to do it yet; but one of these days you'll believe me when I say I love you. I think I always have and I know I always will. No matter what happens I want it to be us. The three of us against the world." Jack said wondering how long it would take to convince Chloe to let her guard down.

Chloe didn't know how to respond. Jack loved her. She honestly didn't know how to react; it'd been so long since someone had said they loved her. Daphne was her sticking point; but he had included her; accepted her.

"This is going to take time Jack. It's been just Daphne and me the whole time. Morris was too chicken-shit to accept responsibility; he didn't even come to any of my doctors appointments. I've never been good at sharing, anything. And my daughter is my top priority. If you're not ok with that then leave now." He stood then; and Chloe's heart sank. She had told him how it was and he wasn't ok with that. Better to know it now before she invested her heart. Who was she kidding her heart had been in it long before the rest of her. She blinked the tears away as she hadn't heard the door close signifying his departure. As her eyes cleared she realized he was standing in front of her hand outstretched. She took it, her heart leaping into her throat. He pulled her close to him holding her tighter then she'd ever been held by anyone.

"I'm so much more then ok with that Chloe. I want to be a part of yours and Daphne's lives. When I called Tony and told him I was coming back he told me about her and I swore to him, just like I'm swearing to you; nothing bad will happen to that little girl for as long as I'm around." Jack said; face buried in her hair breathing in her scent. Chloe tightened her hold on him knowing she'd never let him go.


End file.
